The Contemporary Jewish Museum in S.F. celebrates Ezra Jack Keats, author of the 1962 classic "The Snowy Day," which broke a color line in mainstream children's picture books. Above: An illustration from Keats' 1969 book "Goggles." less

The Contemporary Jewish Museum in S.F. celebrates Ezra Jack Keats, author of the 1962 classic "The Snowy Day," which broke a color line in mainstream children's picture books. Above: An illustration from Keats' ... more

Photo: Ezra Jack Keats, Contemporary Jewish Museum

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Keats told ordinary tales of childhood but rendered them timeless.

Keats told ordinary tales of childhood but rendered them timeless.

Photo: Beverly Hall, Contemporary Jewish Museum

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Ezra Jack Keats had illustrated books, but "The Snowy Day" was the first he authored.

Ezra Jack Keats had illustrated books, but "The Snowy Day" was the first he authored.

Photo: Contemporary Jewish Museum

'Snowy Day' at Contemporary Jewish Museum

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Children will look through the picture book "The Snowy Day" and smile at the vibrant images of a young boy bundled up in a red snowsuit having fun on a winter day and stuffing snow in his pocket in hopes it will last forever.

But adults may see more: a black child venturing tentatively out into a relentlessly white world and not only finding his way but also experiencing moments of magic as he goes. Published 50 years ago, "The Snowy Day," by Ezra Jack Keats, was the first full-color picture book to feature a black protagonist.

A new show at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco - which runs through Feb. 24 - brings to life the art of Keats, who found beauty in the quotidian and in the inner city, and delivered a message that children are children wherever they live and whatever their race.

Until writing "The Snowy Day," Keats had primarily illustrated books written by other authors. When Keats was asked why he made his book's character, Peter, black, he said, "My book would have him there simply because he should have been there all along."

"His work is pioneering," said Contemporary Jewish Museum curator Claudia Nahson. "No earlier books for the young featured these gritty landscapes. Keats not only made such backgrounds an integral part of his stories, but he also rendered the squalid city settings beautiful through his mastery of collage and his expressive painting."

Ezra Jack Keats was born Jacob Ezra Katz in Brooklyn in 1916, the only son of Polish Jewish immigrants. He was raised poor - first in a railroad flat and later in a tenement - and felt as if he was overlooked or "not there."

In order to cope with his bleak surroundings, he "holed up and drew," showing artistic talent at a young age. When he doodled on the kitchen table, his mother covered the drawings with the Sabbath cloth, but proudly unveiled the images when neighbors came to visit.

"Painting was my skyhook," Keats wrote. "All of the pain, all of the nuances of feeling, all the senses of poetry and music when I'd watch the sunset or the sunrise, or watch people, I only had one place to take it, and I painted."

Before finding success with his own books, Keats was a Works Progress Administration painter during the Great Depression, and later found work as a "background man," coloring in backgrounds of comic books. He also created paintings evocative of Edward Hopper, in dark or muted colors that depicted the ordinary as extraordinary.

Keats illustrated about 30 books by other writers from 1954 to 1962. His intention in writing "The Snowy Day" was for the book to "lead all children to genuine self-acceptance."

The book was a runaway success, and Keats won the Caldecott Medal, the annual award for the most distinguished American picture book. The inspiration for Peter came from four candid photos of a little boy, which Keats saw in a Life magazine article. Keats was drawn to the boy's "expressive face, his body attitudes, the very way he wore his clothes."

"He illustrated over 80 children's books, and 22 of those he authored," said assistant curator Colleen Stockmann, walking through the show. "His work was autobiographical."

The show, "The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats," features dozens of Keats' original drawings, paintings and collage, as well as the material that inspired him (including the Life magazine cutout). The show also provides historical context, presenting some of the less-than-flattering portrayals of black children in picture books before the publication of "The Snowy Day."

Keats went on to write seven picture books about Peter, as well as other books where his young characters experience universal things of childhood: They explore, learn to whistle, combat bigger bullying kids, find treasures in discarded detritus, and make forts out of anything. There is wonderment to the work, showing Keats' ability to see the world through children's eyes.

Acclaimed American Indian writer Sherman Alexie credited "The Snowy Day" with turning him into an avid reader. "I vividly remember the first day I pulled that book off the shelf. It was the first time I looked at a book and saw a brown, black, beige character, a character who resembled me, in all his gorgeous loneliness and splendid isolation."

The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats: Through Feb. 24. Contemporary Jewish Museum, 736 Mission St., S.F.

Ezra Jack Keats Bookmaking Competition: Sponsored by the museum. San Francisco Unified School District students in kindergarten through grade 12 and children at Bay Area Jewish day schools are invited to design, write and create their own books. thecjm.org/teachers.

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